Cam Pets, or Petcam?

[Mart]

Thought I might start of a thread with some pet / animal news.

As some may know, we had a trainee Guide Dog boarder, who 'failed' but got downgraded to a Buddy Dog wannabe 3 days before Covid lockdown, so he was with us in total for 18 months, before going to be a Buddy Dog, and keep a young child with sight problems company, offer support, and allow them to grow up with an idea of what it might be like to have a Guide Dog when they are older.

Vesper left us in Nov 2020, and has been a star at his job, but he's also become a media star. It started off with his Instagram account, then he got featured in several local newspapers, before the Daily Mail ran a piece on him (and it was a nice piece). This led to his appearance on Good Morning with Phil and Holly:







Then we had Jasper for 8 weeks, but he left us two weeks ago when he was matched with his GDO (guide dog owner). They are getting on great, and it all looks promising. Jasper is 2yrs old, and a big puppy, but apparently an excellent GD.

In a week we will be getting Blossom, she's a two year old about to start training. Normally they start at around 14 months, but due to Covid the latest batch of puppies had to stay with their puppy walkers for longer, so a tough time for all those that have had pups since 7 weeks old.



The cattery has been doing fine, we're approaching the end of kitten season, so it's calming down, and also means less battered big boys coming in who are fighting for territory and girls. Slight mishap for me in early June, when a friendly but terrified mom cat panicked as I was popping her in a carrier to go to the vets. She poo'd over both of us, then put about 20 new holes in my hand, which unfortunately started an infection, so I was back in hospital for a day, then a week of driving back and for to the hospital 3x per day for intravenous anti-biotics. But the drugs worked really well, surgery was cancelled, and the team at TACU (trauma ambulatory care unit) were already on first name terms with me. We were reminiscing on my previous time there around Feb/Mch 2020, when we were watching the news and starting to wonder if this Covid thing was going to get bad or not!

Anna (of ARC (Anna's Rescue Center)) was recently filmed at the cattery for a TV series on animals. I think Dermot O'Leary may be hosting. The filming was to follow one of the cats we have who we decided to keep at the cattery, as she loved it so much there, and could hopefully be used as a sort of therapy animal for visiting residential homes. But instead, one home has decided to adopt her, and that's what the filming was to show and follow, as she left us, and moved in.

[Fintray]

Good to hear again about what's happening with the animals you help to look after.

[Mart]

Some animal news.

So, we now have Blossom, she's been with us for about 4 weeks. She's an adorable trainee guide dog, very sweet, and getting cheekier every day. Ironically (and linked to another a thread) this means we've started doing the two tonne school run, taking her to Guide Dogs each morning, and picking her back up late afternoon. I feel quite guilty being 'part of the problem', but it's 4 miles each way.

Jasper who we had for just 4 weeks near the end of his training, and then left when matched with a GDO (guide dog owner) settled in well, learnt his routes, did his job properly and was officially 'passed' last week as a qualified GD. We've seen a lovely pic of him guiding his GDO around in Swansea.

Me and my big mouth! I said the cattery was calming down, I was wrong. Normal would be 15-20 cats/kits, busy 25, we've been at about 40-50 for a month or more. We are literally stacking them up, in large cages, in rooms and pens with other cats/kits.

Officially we are 'full' on the website, but when someone calls and says they 'will dump mum and 6 kits on the pavement' if we don't take them in, or feral kits (and no mum) have been found, what can we do?

Finally met my match in the befriending game. Big and beautiful Carl is so scared of the cattery, he will hiss at me when I approach, but then just freezes. I've fussed him almost every day for as long as 30 mins, but never gotten any positive feedback from him. I suspect he'll be a friendly house cat if given enough time (he was a street cat), but he's clearly unable to relax at the rescue.

On the positive side we had 'DK - Devil Kitten'. Four large feral kits came in, and three went to a fosterer, but number four had to be separated as she was just too hiss, spitty, and swipey, and one like that can make it impossible for the others to relax and learn to trust. So each day I'd lean into her crate, she'd run at me and swipe the extended knuckle of my index finger, then when I didn't back off, she'd go submissive and freeze whilst I fussed her. After a week I decided 'sh.t or bust', and with a friendly mum and kitten trying to pull the crate door open, whilst I fussed DK and held the door with my toes, I decided to lock myself in and curl up in a ball (no much choice as the crates are about 4ft by 3ft), and settle in for the long haul.

After 20mins of fuss she turned and started to chew my finger. My first thought was that she'd gotten brave enough to attack me, but the bites stayed gentle and stopped after 30s or so. Weirdly, this has happened to me loads of times with the really shy and scared cats, they seem to give me a gentle 'test' bite when they are ready to let their guard down. After another minute of fuss she suddenly melted completely, rubbing her head into my hand, flopping onto her side, and then purring away. I called over another volunteer, was still on antibiotics from a bite she got from DK. After I slowly extricated myself from the crate, in she popped, got a hiss from DK, then after 1min of fuss, DK melted again.

She was an absolute joy to see each day, and after a few more days, would actually be waiting at the crate door for fuss. She got adopted on Friday and I suspect will be one of the most loving animals ever, as these shy ones really seem to appreciate TLC.

There's also a big street boy there who's ultra friendly, and reminds me of an old tom called Hemingway, that moved into our house about 15yrs ago with giant mitts. Just like Hemi this new boy is a polydactyl with 2 extra toes on each foot, so 26 toes (7 front and 6 rear, instead of 5 and 4). he looks like he has thumbs, and his back feet look like flippers.

I asked a friend and neighbour who helps to foster rescue dogs what it's like with the dog charities, and apparently they are all completely over run too, so whether it's something to do with Covid I don't know, but it's all pretty crazy at the moment.

[Mart]

OK, I'm going to be brave (or foolish) and suggest that the cattery is calming down at last. It's still busier than normal, but no longer insane, and kittens aren't coming in as fast, so hopefully the season is slowing down now.

Bad news today though. Blossom the wannabe guide dog, who has been the star of her class, had a scan yesterday after an eagle eyed vet thought he may have spotted very minor elbow dysplasia. Low and behold, the vet was right, and she has been withdrawn immediately. As dysplasia can develop into arthritis, they don't think it's fair for dogs to 'pound the pavement'. They will now assess her for potential as a buddy dog (like Vesper), but if not we'd have her, but I think they prefer single dog households to avoid too much rough and tumble, but the puppy walkers might want her, as they adored her, and due to Covid had her for 20 months.

Bit of a shame, and absolutely gutting for the trainer. Also goes to explain why the total cost of training a guide dog, works at about £50k, since many dogs, and their associated costs, don't make it all the way to the finishing line.

Anyways, enough of my waffle, what's happening with everyone's pets?

[Fintray]

Just returned from the vets with my dog who was there for his health check and booster, I've never had a dog that gets so hyper about being at the vets. Hyper excited that is, not fear, our previous Old English Sheepdog, when taken to the vets, would back away from the tailgate of the car when he realised where he was.
I was glad to hand him to the vet to get a bit of peace in the waiting room!

[Mart]

Fun and odd story from the cattery.

So we had two cats in yesterday, they were street rescues, seemed to be pals, and a bit old.

One was chipped so Anna checked the databases, and found that it had been reported lost ............. reported lost 12 years ago!

The info was now out of date, but she turned to social media with a plea for help, giving the owners surname, and the street she used to live on. Lots of people offered help, including one who knew a lady on that street who'd lived there for a long time.

Later that day the owner was tracked down, and she's collecting her cat, and his little friend.

But, but, buttttttttt 12 flippin years, that's got to be some sort of record, so spread the word, get your animals chipped.

Edit - We made the ITV news thread

Owner of twenty-year-old cat living in a cemetery for more than a decade found after Facebook appeal

[Bugtownboy]

Sounds like it’s not that uncommon, Mart

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland- ... d-58597174

[Mr Gus]

Nah, just chance.

The kennel club rfid tags were exploited & manipulated criminally from within many years ago, we exposed it to the police way back in the day, kernel club likely quashed it. (Knowledge, not the money earning act)
The big pet tag (rfid) company in manchester is so monetarily orientated that it ignores gdpr over & over, therefore doubtful as to wants in terms of
integrity & training.

Besides, rfid tags can move around the body, thus a bored, corporate vet may do a speedy sweep & simply not be in range of an entry point rfid tag, with no inclination to do a second more thorough sweep, nor log movement of a travelling tag.

The read range on those expensive "paddles" is not good.

So an animal could & have been checked over with no rfid hit, gone to a new home & had another chip installed, turfed out of home no 2 & still not have a competent once over that denotes ownership /last address.

Had it happen to us with chipped dogs, non travelling rfid tags, crap vets & thieving bar stewards working within central office of the kennel club.
The attitude go's some way towards understanding screwed up animal genetics & decades of "assured" breeding standards.

[Mart]

I know this thread is old, but I've felt guilty about posting much as I had to drop out of volunteering at the cattery early this year as the evil long Covid (from the previous October), just causes too much fatigue.

We've also had to reduce our boarding for Guide Dogs, as I can't be relied on for walks, and Wifey has been spending lots of time at her parents due to poor health. But we have taken in a few of the emergencies - not 'real' emergencies, just when there's no notice and they need instant help.

But thought I'd post today as we've been looking after a lovely Laff (he's half Labrador, and half Giraffe (possibly Retriever)). He has a tiny bit of elbow dysplasia, so was withdrawn from training (in case pavement walking causes issues in the long term). He's a bit nuts, so two sets of new boarders gave up, but we found him adorable, just needed to make sure he couldn't reach anything he shouldn't. Well the lovely Timmy left us today after being adopted. Two hours later, not only was he in a new country (he went to Gloucester), but he was napping with his head on the new owners lap. Brilliant news, and shows how adaptable these dogs are. But the cats will miss him, as he used to say hello to all of them, and Buster will miss his games of bitey face. Weirdly, it's a year to the day that Blossom left us, another dog withdrawn due to dysplasia. She went as a buddy dog to Ireland, but Timmy's just too .... 'too much' for such a role.

Though I've stepped down, for now at the cattery/rescue, I have been doing some rehab work for them, and fell in love with Reggie. He was given his name (from the infamous london twins) as he was launching himself at the crate doors whenever anyone tried to open them and give him food, or clean out his litter tray.

So I approached with elbow length gauntlets on both arms, and he gave me the full 'mess with me and you die' attitude. But I noticed that his bite was just a punch, no teeth, and when he swiped me with one of his murder mittens, he didn't use his claws (I didn't feel any snagging on the gloves). So I stood my ground, and he shrank as small as possible in the crate and blinked at me. It was all a fear show. Two days later the gloves were off, in a nice way, and he was licking treats off my finger. After a week we were having cuddles, head butts, the whole nine yards. He got adopted, but not before winning over all the volunteers and being allowed to stay loose in the 'play room'.


One last story, thinking about the vid I opened this thread with. We finally got to meet up with Vesper in the summer. His family brought him to a park near us, and he and Buster ran around like they'd never been parted. It was nearly 18 months after he left us, and we had him for about 18 months too (because of Covid lockdown, just 4 days after he was withdrawn from training (for staring at clouds, when he should have been working!)).

So that's an update from Cardiff, and the animal silliness. Hope others have lots of stories too, so i don't seem quite so weird!

[Mr Gus]

Our hyper boxer (& weve had a few) bitch pup is at last beginning to lose puppy brain & turn into a vaguely good girl, rewarded with "time on the bed" a dedicated dog fleece blanket "signal" that she's allowed she calms down within 30 seconds which is good for her overall "perma-wired" nature which has allowed us to transfer calm still, non jumping strokes to her just being around our feet (sitting on them, back in contact, ..progress as paws are more or less on the ground nowadays, but her ability to jump / leap should never be underestimated, especially when she"s flinging a knackered old knotted sock around a room, leaping & catching it mid-flight.

She's a pup that you just know is too much work for most & would have been traumatised as a return at 6 months or less, & damaged goods, which is why the litter owner picked her for my wife.

She jumps around so much that if Tank wasn't such an Andre the giant of a french bulldog she'd have broken his spine or similar leaping & landing, or just pounding him whilst using him as a step (up / to us) ..so I'm very protective of the top dog, even though he is no wuss.

She's just had her 1st season, so "trauma all round" & now a phantom pregnancy & milk production in 4 of 12 nipples to date, so keeping an eye out for adverse behaviours, off her food (yes, even their weekly roasted xl whole chicken) so Tank copies & leaves his too.

She is also chasing into walls when seeing test images / footage from a projector ..this is "improved" behaviour
Walks like dream on the lead mind.